It is not know why but the Great Barrier Reefs is always being attacked by hordes of Crown-of-Thorns starfish. Forty per cent of damage to the reef is done by the pest. Robots that can identify starfish and then inject them with a lethal toxin are being used to fight the invasion.

The system works by having a submersible robot patrol about 30cm off the sea floor. When it sees a starfish an arm is extended and the injection is done. If a target is questionable the view is recorded in the robot's data base. A copy of the video is sent to human controllers who verify whether the robot has to return to finish the job.

The robots get the starfish early before they can do any real damage to the reef. After the robots have done what they can, human divers go in to clear up the remaining starfish. This combined protective system will give the reef time to recover.

Have you ever seen a nurse cussing because she cannot find a suitable vein to insert a drip in the arm of a patient? These are daily problems that the medical fraternity must face. However, technology has come to the fore.

There is a new scanner that pinpoints veins that are large enough to insert a cannula.

Have you ever seen a nurse cussing because she cannot find a suitable vein to insert a drip in the arm of a patient? These are daily problems that the medical fraternity must face. However, technology has come to the fore. There is a new scanner that pinpoints veins that are large enough to insert a cannula.

The new device beams light just out of the infrared light range into the arm. It is absorbed by deoxygenated haemoglobin in the veins. Thus, the veins light up and show the way. It makes life much easier for medical staff and is quicker.

There are a lot of things just waiting to be applied to human activity. Technology is already available and it is a case of thinking of new procedures and making them real. Get a move on developers. The public is waiting!

We are all humans right? And being an animal we are inclined to sweat. This is a natural animal function. Indeed, humans have a lot of sweat glands that are designed to function on a naked body to stop the heat of the sun "cooking" the brain. Stop a natural function and you are asking for trouble.

Young women are ignoring this and are having botox injections under their arms to prevent odor from sweating. This is usually done just before the high school formal for girls to stay "fresh" in their fancy gowns. Apparently, the "treatment" last as long as nine months.

If you go to a gym and sweat, others tend to shun you as if you are not normal. An ad did indeed exploit such behavior by trying to sell liners that mop up the sweat. You would think a sports mad nation like Australia would ignore this trend and accept that physical activity makes one sweat, but Australian girls are "drowning" themselves in deodorant.

Like breaking wind, sweating is natural and healthy. Trying to make oneself into a perfectly neutral robot is not possible. In a world of active robots, odor from sweating would be an ideal way to show the demarcation between humans and robots. Heaven help us if some want to become actual robots.